Direct mount luminaires are recessed lighting units that are installed in mounting surfaces such as drywall ceilings or suspended ceilings without a recessed housing can. Typically, the recessed lighting units are mounted in the ceiling using a mounting frame (also known as ‘plaster frame’) that is disposed behind the ceiling, e.g., in the plenum between the structural ceiling (roof) and a finished ceiling wall that conceals the underside of the structural ceiling. The mounting frame may be secured directly to the joists in the ceiling or supported on hanger bars that are fastened to and extend between the joists. Further, the mounting frame includes a light fixture receiving opening that is configured to receive the recessed lighting unit and secure the recessed lighting fixture to the mounting frame. In some instances, the light fixture receiving opening in the mounting frame may also be used as a guide along which an aperture can be cut in the ceiling for installing the recessed lighting unit.
In conventional mounting frames, the shape of the light fixture receiving opening in the mounting frame may be fixed and may depend on the shape of the recessed lighting unit that is to be mounted to the mounting frame. That is, in conventional mounting frames, the shape of the light fixture receiving opening may be configured to allow a similarly shaped lighting unit to be received and mounted to the mounting frame. For example, a mounting frame with a circular light fixture receiving opening may be configured to receive and mount a lighting unit having a substantially circular shape. However, if a different lighting unit having a shape that is different from the shape of the light fixture receiving opening of the mounting frame is to be mounted, a different mounting frame with a light fixture receiving opening having a shape corresponding to or substantially similar to that of the different lighting unit will be required. In other words, to accommodate various lighting units of different shapes, several mounting frames are required, where each mounting frame has a light fixture receiving opening of a different shape.
The requirement for several different mounting frames imposes the need for the luminaire manufacturer to produce, and the luminaire dealers to manage increased product stock keeping units (SKUs). Additionally, in a remodel installation scenario where a user wants to replace a lighting unit having a first shape with a new lighting unit having a different second shape, the existing mounting frame having a light fixture receiving opening that is only configured to receive the lighting unit having the first shape will have to be removed and replaced with a different mounting frame having a light fixture receiving opening that is configured to receive the lighting unit having the second shape. The removal and replacement of the existing plaster frame with another plaster frame may be both labor and time intensive.
Further, in conventional mounting systems, junction boxes associated with a luminaire have to be attached to the mounting frames prior to installing the mounting frames in the ceiling. That is, in conventional mounting systems, the mounting frame and the junction box that is attached thereto are installed as a single unit in the ceiling because conventional mounting frames are not configured to allow the junction box to be separately coupled thereto or securely disposed thereon after the mounting frames have been installed in the finished ceiling.
Furthermore, in conventional systems, the junction boxes are attached to the mounting frames using fasteners which require the installer to use tools, such as screw drivers or other appropriate fastening tools. That is, the conventional mounting frames are not configured to allow a toolless mounting, coupling, or installation of the junction boxes and/or any other electrical and electronics components (e.g., drivers) thereto.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed to be of possible relevance to the present disclosure. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present disclosure.